Protective cover unfolding and positioning device

ABSTRACT

A protective cover unfolding and positioning device has a position restoring element installed at a folding portion adjacent to upper and lower support portions of a first protective plate for providing a restoring resilience for bending or folding the upper and lower support portions. A telecommunication product or an electronic device may be disposed obliquely on a peripheral surface of a second protective plate peripheral surface, The weight of the telecommunication product or electronic device exerted on the first protective plate upper, the lower support portions and the restoring resilience provided by the position restoring element to the upper and lower support portions Maintain stability of the that the telecommunication product or electronic device.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a protective cover unfolding andpositioning device, in particular to the protective cover unfolding andpositioning device with the features of a simple installation, an easyand convenient use, and capable of providing an innovative diversifiedway of unfolding and fixing a protected portable telecommunicationproduct or electronic device, so as to achieve the effects of theconvenient and efficient operation, use or viewing, and the wholeprotective cover has the features of a simple cost-effective manufactureand a handy and thin design for an easy carry and not occupying muchspace, and improves over the conventional devices of the same sort.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As science and technology advance, portable telecommunication productsand electronic devices such as digital media players (DMP), globalpositioning systems (GPS), tablet PCs, touch screen mobile phones usinga light crystal display (LCD) and an organic light emitting diode (OLED)display as interfaces are developed and introduced to the marketconstantly.

In general, the telecommunication products or electronic devices comewith a protective cover to provide an easy carry and reduce rubbing,collisions or damages. Most protective covers have a cover or bag foraccommodating the telecommunication product or electronic devicedirectly, or the telecommunication product or electronic device isdesigned to be able to combine with a protective cover directly.Although the design of the protective cover or bag can achieve theeffect of protecting the telecommunication product or electronic device,it has a single function on practical application and cannot meet theuser requirements. Therefore, the inventor of the present invention hasdeveloped “an improved protective cover” as disclosed in R.O.C. Pat.Application No. 99210050 and shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, wherein atelecommunication product or electronic device A has a stylish designcapable of connecting, folding and unfolding a first protective plate 10and a second protective plate 11 to protect the telecommunicationproduct or electronic device A. The first protective plate 10 isprovided for installing the telecommunication product or electronicdevice A and includes a folding portion B disposed on a transverseperipheral surface of the first protective plate 10 for dividing thefirst protective plate 10 into an upper support portion 101 and a lowersupport portion 102, and a positioning element 1011, 1021 installed atthe upper and lower support portions 101, 102 separately for positioningthe telecommunication product or electronic device A. The secondprotective plate 11 includes at least one transverse positioning slot111 and a buckle loop 112 disposed at the periphery of the secondprotective plate 11, for latching and protecting the telecommunicationproduct or electronic device A when the second protective plate 11 isfolded and stacked onto the first protective plate 10.

When use, the first and second protective plates 10, 11 can be foldedand stacked with each other to protect the telecommunication product orelectronic device A (as shown in FIG. 3) and also can be unfolded tolift the first protective plate 10 upward, and then a lower end of thetelecommunication product or electronic device A is separated from alower support portion positioning element 1021 of the first protectiveplate 10 and plugged slantingly and fixed into any one of thepositioning slots 111 of the second protective plate 11 to achieve theeffect of disposing the telecommunication product or electronic device Aobliquely to facilitate users' operations and improve the viewing effect(as shown in FIG. 4).

The transverse positioning slot 111 is formed on a peripheral surface ofthe second protective plate 11 for fixing the telecommunication productor electronic device A obliquely, so as to achieve the effect of asimple, easy and convenient operation, and such arrangement is welcomeby users. However, the inventor of the present invention conductedfurther researches and experiments and developed an improved protectivecover unfolding and positioning device to provide add-on values to theproduct. In other words, some necessary manufacturing procedures must betaken to form the transverse positioning slots 111, regardless of thequantity of the transverse positioning slots 111. The larger thequantity, the more complicated are the manufacturing procedures. Thesecomplicated manufacturing procedures often incur a higher cost. Inaddition, the telecommunication products or electronic devices A must beplugged into the transverse positioning slots 111 one by one before theeffect of fixing the telecommunication products or electronic devicesobliquely is achieved. In addition to the relatively slow operation,particularly the quantity and interval of the transverse positioningslots 111 directly limit the angle of disposing the telecommunicationproduct or electronic device A, so that there will be limitation andinconvenience for users to operate or view the telecommunication productor electronic device A. To cope with the formation of the transversepositioning slots 111, the second protective plate 111 is thicker, andthus resulting in increased volume and clumsiness.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary objective of the present invention to overcome theaforementioned drawbacks of the prior art by providing a protectivecover unfolding and positioning device, such that when the portabletelecommunication product or electronic device is unfolded for use, theoperation is simple, easy, quick, convenient and efficient, and thetelecommunication product or electronic device can be fixed obliquely ata position to provide a more diversified and variable application, andthe manufacture of the protective cover is simpler and cheaper, and theinvention can save materials and improve the portability of theprotective cover unfolding and positioning device.

To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, the presentinvention provides a protective cover unfolding and positioning device,wherein a position restoring element is installed at a position offolding portion adjacent to the upper and lower support portions of thefirst protective plate, and the position restoring element provides arestoring resilience for bending and folding the upper and lower supportportions by using the folding portion as a base.

The unfolded first protective plate is lifted upward to move a lower endof a telecommunication product or an electronic device to be disposedobliquely on a peripheral surface of a second protective plateperipheral surface, and when the upper and lower support portions of thefirst protective plate are folded with each other automatically at thefolding portion, the weight of the telecommunication product orelectronic device exerted onto the first protective plate upper and thelower support portions and the restoring resilience provided by theposition restoring element to the upper and lower support portionsassure that the obliquely disposed telecommunication product orelectronic device is supported securely to maintain the positioningstability, and the angle of the oblique telecommunication product orelectronic device can be adjusted freely to achieve the simple operationand convenient viewing effect, and the second protective plate does notrequire any positioning device corresponding to the telecommunicationproduct or electronic device, and the whole protective cover can have athin design to achieve the effects of saving materials, providing ahandy device for an easy and convenient carry, and occupying not muchspace.

The objects, technical characteristics and effects of the presentinvention will become apparent with the detailed description ofpreferred embodiments accompanied with the illustration of relateddrawings as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a protective cover in anunfolded state as disclosed in R.O.C. Pat. Application No. 99210050;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the protective cover asdepicted in FIG. 1 and installed to a telecommunication product orelectronic device;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the protective cover asdepicted in FIG. 1 in a folded state;

FIG. 4 is a planar schematic view of the protective cover as depicted inFIG. 1 in an unfolded state for using a telecommunication product orelectronic device;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a protective cover inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of installing a protective coverin a telecommunication product or electronic device in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a first schematic view of a first protective plate installedwith a position restoring element in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a first top view of a first protective plate installed with aposition restoring element in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 9 is a second top view of a first protective plate installed with aposition restoring element in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 10 is a first planar view of a protective cover as depicted in FIG.5 and unfolded for using a telecommunication product or electronicdevice in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is a second planar view of a protective cover as depicted inFIG. 5 and unfolded for using a telecommunication product or electronicdevice in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of upper and lower support portions ofa first protective plate of the protective cover as depicted in FIG. 11which are in a bent and folded state;

FIG. 13 is a third planar view of a protective cover as depicted in FIG.5 and unfolded for using a telecommunication product or electronicdevice in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 14 is a second cross-sectional view of a first protective plateinstalled with a position restoring element in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a third cross-sectional view of a first protective plateinstalled with a position restoring element in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a fourth cross-sectional view of a first protective plateinstalled with a position restoring element in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 17 is a fifth cross-sectional view of a first protective plateinstalled with a position restoring element in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

Wherein, FIGS. 5 and 7 are representative drawings of the presentinvention

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The objects, characteristics and effects of the present invention willbecome apparent with the detailed description of the preferredembodiments and the illustration of related drawings as follows.

With reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 for a protective cover unfolding andpositioning device of the present invention, the protective coverunfolding and positioning device comprises a first protective plate 10and a second protective plate 11 coupled to each other and capable ofbeing folded or unfolded with respect to each other, wherein the firstprotective plate 10 is provided for accommodating a telecommunicationproduct or electronic device A and includes a transverse folding portionB disposed on a peripheral surface of the first protective plate 10 todivided the first protective plate 10 into an upper support portion 101and a lower support portion 102, and the upper and lower supportportions 101, 102 have a positioning element 1011, 1021 separately forfixing the telecommunication product or electronic device at a position.The second protective plate 11 includes a buckle loop 112 formed at theperiphery of the second protective plate 11 and provided for fixing thesecond protective plate 11 to the periphery of the communication productor electronic device A when the second protective plate 11 and the firstprotective plate 10 are folded and stacked with each other. Wherein, aposition restoring element 20 is installed at a position of the foldingportion B adjacent to the upper and lower support portions 101, 102 ofthe first protective plate 10, and the position restoring element 20provides the restoring resilience for bending and folding the upper andlower support portion 101, 102 by using the folding portion B as a base.

Wherein, the position restoring element 20 is made of an elasticmaterial with a position restoring effect such as polyurethane (PU),thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU), thermoplastic elastomer(TPE), synthetic rubber or rubber.

In FIGS. 8 and 9, one or more position restoring elements 20 ofdifferent lengths are installed on the folding portion B adjacent to theupper and lower support portions 101, 102

In FIGS. 10 to 13 for the aforementioned assembly of the presentinvention, the installed position restoring element 20 will not hinderthe manufacture and molding of the first protective plate 10 and theupper and lower support portions 101, 102, and various positioningdevices such as the transverse positioning slots formed on a peripheralsurface of the second protective plate 11 corresponding to thetelecommunication product or electronic device A are no longer required,so that the whole protective cover can have a thin design to achieve theeffects of saving materials, providing a handy device for an easy andconvenient carry, and occupying not much space, in addition to havingthe features of simple manufacture and excellent cost-effectiveness.

When the telecommunication product or electronic device A is used, thefirst protective plate 10 and the second protective plate 11 of theprotective cover are unfolded with respect to each other, and the firstprotective plate 10 is lifted upward to detach a lower end of thetelecommunication product or electronic device A from the positioningelement 1021, and obliquely placed on a peripheral surface of the secondprotective plate 11. Now, the upper and lower support portions 101, 102of the first protective plate 10 are bent and folded with respect toeach other automatically by using the adjacent folding portion B as abase, and the position restoring element 20 installed adjacent to thefolding portion B will provide a position restoring resilience to theupper and lower support portions 101, 102, and the telecommunicationproduct or electronic device A will press against a peripheral surfaceof the upper support portion 101 of the first protective plate 10 andthe second protective plate 11 by the gravitational force, so that theobliquely disposed telecommunication product or electronic device A canbe positioned and fixed at a position. Particularly, the positionrestoring element 20 applies the restoring resilience to the upper andlower support portions 101, 102 anytime, so that the upper and lowersupport portions 101, 102 keeps providing a supporting force to thetelecommunication product or electronic device A all the time to preventthe telecommunication product or electronic device A will not be toppledover and allow the telecommunication product or electronic device A tobe set obliquely at any angle, so as to achieve the diversified andvariable stepless adjustment effect and facilitate the operation, useand viewing of the telecommunication product or electronic device Aeffectively.

The position restoring element 20 is installed at a position of thefolding portion B adjacent to the upper and lower support portions 101,102 of the first protective plate 10 by an adhesion, sewing or rivetingmethod depending on the properties or using features of the protectedtelecommunication product or electronic device A, the appearance orusing features of the protective cover, or the properties and featuresof the position restoring element 20, and an inside material c (such ascloth or leather), and a decorative outside material d (such as cloth orleather) covered onto inner and outer surfaces of the upper and lowersupport portions 101, 102 of the position restoring element 20 aresheltered into a hidden form as shown in FIG. 7 or the inside material cand the decorative outside material d are covered onto the inner andouter surfaces of the upper and lower support portions 101, 102 as shownin FIG. 14 are sheltered into a hidden form, and both sides 201 of theposition restoring element 20 are coupled to the upper and lower supportportions 101, 102, or installed on an inner peripheral surface and anouter peripheral surface of the folding portion B adjacent to the upperand lower support portions 101, 102 as shown in FIG. 15, or installed onan inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface of thefolding portion B adjacent to the upper and lower support portions 101,102 as shown in FIG. 16 to achieve the same effect of providing therestoring resilience for bending and folding the upper and lower supportportions 101, 102, and providing the supporting force to the obliquelydisposed telecommunication product or electronic device A.

In summation of the description above, the present invention has one ormore of the following advantages:

1. The invention features a simple manufacture, an excellentcost-effectiveness, a material saving effect and a high portability.

2. The invention makes the operation and use of unfolding the portabletelecommunication product or electronic device simpler, more convenient,quicker, and more efficient.

3. The invention allows the telecommunication product or electronicdevice to be positioned obliquely to provide more diversified andvariable applications.

While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments,numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A protective cover unfolding and positioningdevice, comprising a first protective plate and a second protectiveplate coupled with each other and foldable and unfoldable with respectto each other, and the first protective plate being provided foraccommodating a telecommunication product or an electronic device, andhaving a transverse folding portion disposed on a peripheral surface ofthe first protective plate for dividing the first protective plate intoan upper support portion and a lower support portion; characterized inthat a position restoring element is installed at a position of foldingportion adjacent to the upper and lower support portions of the firstprotective plate, and the position restoring element provides arestoring resilience for bending and folding the upper and lower supportportions by using the folding portion as a base.
 2. The protective coverunfolding and positioning device of claim 1, wherein the positionrestoring element is made of an elastic material with a positionrestoring effect selected from the collection of polyurethane (PU),thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU), thermoplastic elastomer(TPE), synthetic rubber and rubber.
 3. The protective cover unfoldingand positioning device of claim 1, wherein the position restoringelement comes with a quantity of one and is installed at a position ofthe folding portion adjacent to the upper and lower support portions ofthe first protective plate.
 4. The protective cover unfolding andpositioning device of claim 1, wherein the position restoring elementscome with a plural quantity and a shorter length and are installed atpositions of the folding portion adjacent to the upper and lower supportportions of the first protective plate.
 5. The protective coverunfolding and positioning device of claim 1, wherein the positionrestoring element is installed at a position of the folding portionadjacent to the upper and lower support portions of the first protectiveplate by an adhesion, sewing or riveting method.
 6. The protective coverunfolding and positioning device of claim 1, wherein the positionrestoring element is covered by an inside material and a decorativeoutside material of the inner and outer surfaces of the upper and lowersupport portions of the first protective plate and sheltered into ahidden form.
 7. The protective cover unfolding and positioning device ofclaim 1, wherein the position restoring element is covered onto thefirst protective plate, and the inside material and decorative outsidematerial of the inner and outer surfaces of the upper and lower supportportions are covered and sheltered into a hidden form, and both sides ofthe position restoring element are coupled to the upper and lowersupport portions.
 8. The protective cover unfolding and positioningdevice of claim 1, wherein the position restoring element is installedon an inner peripheral surface or an outer periphery surface of thefolding portion adjacent to the upper and lower support portions of thefirst protective plate.
 9. The protective cover unfolding andpositioning device of claim 1, wherein the position restoring element isinstalled on an inner peripheral surface or a periphery surface of thefolding portion adjacent to the upper and lower support portions of thefirst protective plate.
 10. The protective cover unfolding andpositioning device of claim 6, wherein the inside material and thedecorative outside material of the inner and outer surfaces of the upperand lower support portions of the first protective plate are cloth orleather.